smart-town noir  (now with additional commentary) 

1.

downtown in the dead of night

where abandoned streets seem to

whisper among themselves.

a light rain has fallen and the stage is set
for its final performance.

2.

from behind a streetlamp an assailant

invades the unoccupied dimension

between my shadow and me, seizing

the material at the collar of my trench coat

pinning me against the rough granite wall

below its chiseled declaration proclaiming:

“The People’s University.”

3.

there, the assailant's fists tighten their grip

pushing the crumpled collar upward into

the Adam's apple of my scrawny neck

to the boney base of the jaw, dimming the narrow
corridor reserved for consciousness, sneering

to within an inch of my face..

"Okay, punk!....Copland or Ives”?